The Wrong Saiyan
by WordsNWordsNWords
Summary: The Saga is changed forever when a quirk of fate sends Raditz to Earth in Goku's place, but with a new hero comes a new story with its own battles. Will Raditz be able to stand up to those who threaten the Earth? Can the weakest of Bardock's sons become strong enough to inherit his brother's lost destiny?
1. Prologue

Age 373 – Planet Vegeta

"ARRRRGH!"

Raplas snapped into motion at the sound of his partner's blood-curdling scream, spinning out of his chair and violently discarding the datapad he'd been casually looking over just moments prior. Every one of the cells across his body were quivering with anticipation at the prospect of a fight, that was part of what it was to be a Saiyan: unrelenting excitement when faced with an enemy. A mere moment behind his body, his senses caught up with the rest of him.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Raplas barked, his whole body tensing to keep it from launching into a fight.

Instead of the wounded or dead form of his partner at the feet of some unknown enemy, what he could instead see was his idiot partner lying on the floor of the control room with a chair and a huge pile of playing cards strewn about on top of him. For a brief moment and not for the first time, Raplas entertained the thought of fighting anyway. He knew if he threw the first punch his partner Torang would be more than willing to oblige. It had been nearly six months since either of them had been on the battlefield, compulsory admin duty was the bane of any Saiyan and they'd put it off so long they'd been given a whole eight months to do at once. Tensions were understandably high. Slightly higher now that Raplas realised he'd just broken his datapad when he tossed it violently across the room.

"I'm so goddamn bored Rap!" Torang moaned, flailing his limbs about amidst the mess like a petulant child without it's favourite toy. An unfortunately apt description of the twenty year old Saiyan warrior, unfortunate for Raplas anyway.

"How did you being bored lead to that?" Raplas demanded. A vein on his forehead visibly bulged with irritation and his teeth received yet another violent gnashing. The kind that would make a dentist cry. "Clean that crap up!"

Torang let out a dejected sigh. "C'mon Rap! There's gotta be something we can do."

"There is, it's called our job. We do it without any major screw ups and then we can say goodbye to this damned room for five more years. Maybe even longer."

Torang let out another dejected sigh. Raplas hated when he was like this. Raplas suspected he was doing to provoke him on purpose, it was working.

"Look." Raplas said, desperate to shut Torang up before he lost all semblance of reason and ripped his younger partner's head off. "There's more planets to be annexed, go assign some of the active warriors new missions so I don't have to, it'd be great if you actually did your job for a change."

"Fine."

"Wha-what?" Raplas spluttered. The threat of actual work was usually enough to send Torang running like Frieza himself just walked through the door looking ticked.

"I said fine. I'll do some damn work. Anything is better than sitting around doing nothing." Torang replied extracting himself from underneath the pile of junk. He flicked on his computer and started up the Planet Assignment program, as he did Raplas sat down at his own desk silently and watched in amazement at the once-in-a-lifetime sight of the most battle crazy Saiyan he knew sitting quietly and doing admin.

"Alright what's first? Okay Planet 4032-877, kinda a mouthful, let's see... good atmosphere, lower than normal gravity... woah 0.1 of Vegeta? What kinda weaklings live... oh... an average Power Level of 5. Guess I'll send a brat then... okay congrats little... Kakarot. You're going to the North Galaxy... wait. Hey Raplas?"

Raplas flinched for a second at the sound of his name, so transfixed by the peculiar sight in front of him.

"What does this little exclamation point on the map mean?"

"It's the outliers in the Power Level readings."

"An out-what?"

"Outliers you moron. It means it's a Power Level that's unusually high or low. Just ignore it, we're supposed to check them but there's usually a lot and they aren't usually important. Who cares if one of the weaklings is a bit tougher than all the other weaklings?"

Torang shrugged. His hand moved to send off little Kakarot on his first mission. Then... he paused for a second. He didn't really care about any of this, but more specifically he was just hoping to pass the time as quickly as possible and get back to active duty. Problem was, if people saw him get a lot done they might want him working admin again. Since that was a fate worse than death to Torang he quickly came to the conclusion that it would be better to waste as much time as possible and ultimately get as little done as he could.

"How can I possibly send off little... Carrot? to this planet if I haven't checked all the outylimers? Better make sure I check every single one." Torang murmured to himself, smirking.

Torang dozed at his seat as the numbers scrolled past, a couple of tens of thousands of numbers anywhere between 5 and 20 that he had to sit through. The machine auto scrolled through the long list of the same few numbers, Torang dozed in his chair with his eyes only half closed for a change, and nothing important got done.

"Wait what!?" Torang jumped back to life and pulled the screen back until he stopped on a previous number.

"Hey Raplas?"

"What?"

"Those outylimers you were talking about. What do I do if there's one that's over 100?"

"I told you it's outlie-over 100?!" Raplas jumped out of his chair and dashed over to Torang's computer screen. "Holy crap you weren't kidding. 127. You can't let a kid go to a planet with someone that high. What's the kids power level?"

"2"

"2? He'll get torn apart! A 127 could even take down the kid after he's changed into an Ozaru. Send someone else. Someone older."

"Like who?"

"The hell should I know? Why do you think they make the active warriors register their Power Levels? Search for one."

"Alright. Alright." Torang moaned. "You don't have to shout. All right, here - 190. That'll be enough. The kid's... only 190 at seven? Man how'd a wimp like that get promoted to Warrior? shouldn't he be shining King Vegeta's boots or something?"

"Oh yeah because you were a damn prodigy." Raplas smirked back, shoving Torang's shoulder.

"Yeah I get it. I'm no Saiyan Elite, but my Power Level was at least 300 by the time I was seven. At this rate he wont even break 1500 in his lifetime."

"Bah. Don't be so quick to judge, I was only 200 at his age, maybe he'll have a growth spurt."

"Oh sure, and then after that he'll become the legendary Super Saiyan." Both Saiyan's paused for a second before bursting into laughter.

"Ha... yeah sure, this kid'll be the Legendary Super Saiyan. Nice one."

Torang smirked. "All right... Raditz. Time to go to planet 4032-877 and become a... a... Super Saiyan."

Miles away Raditz' scouter buzzed and the screen lit up with his latest mission.

 _Raditz_

 _New Mission: Prepare Planet for Resale_

 _Planet Designation - 4032-877 (Earth)_

–


	2. Chapter 1 - The Boy From Space

Chapter 1 – The Boy From Space

Age 738

It had been two weeks and Raditz was still fuming. After all you had little else to do in a pod but sit alone with your thoughts.

"I hate them! I hate them! I HATE THEM!" Raditz screamed, his lungs hoarse from bellowing out his anger in his sealed pod and his hands red raw from rampaging violently against every surface in sight. He'd only just restrained his power enough to avoid shattering the consoles and despite that there were still a few cracked and twisted impact craters dotted about the metal interior.

It didn't take long for the anger to once again fade into loathing. Raditz' face twisted into despair and his body curled up even tighter in the pod as he wrapped his arms around his knees and pulled his giant mass of coarse black hair around himself. Bunching up into the tightest ball he could manage before devolving into sobbing. This pattern had repeated itself over the course of the trip, again and again. A child trapped in a pod with nothing but silence and his own negative emotions.

He hated it. The constant jeering, the smug superiority of the others, but most of all he hated himself. His parents were so strong and yet he was so weak. His father had all but stopped coming to see him when they were both on Vegeta and now that his brother had been born, he doubted he would see much of either of his parents.

As he approached his destination planet Raditz felt his tears start to dry up for the last time, he was always like this before a mission. Once his body stopped shaking and he'd wiped the mucus from his face, his features curled into a scowl. It was easier every time, turning all that sadness into blind anger and throwing all that anger at the inhabitants of whatever planet he was sent to. It was almost a routine. It helped him ignore the voices in his head who wondered what the point of fighting was if no one was happy when he won.

He almost let out a sigh of relief when the pod started to punch its way through the atmosphere towards the surface of the planet. He was always much happier when he was finally done with travelling and had a mission to complete. Things were simpler when he was on a mission.

There was no time to be sad during a fight to the death.

–

!

High above the Earth's skies there was a structure. It sat on the air itself, still and unmoving despite its great height. It was ancient, a platform with a single building resting on its surface. What made this structure even more mysterious was the wealth of life that thrived on its surface, so much higher up than it had any right to be able to survive. A thriving garden covered the structure's surface, tended to by a short rotund figure with pitch black skin. Who hummed gently to himself as he cheerfully maintained the centuries old garden.

There was a second figure. As gnarled and withered as the wooden staff he held clasped in his rough hands. He had earthy green skin, harsh and rough like old leather. His features, although they were obscured by the many lines and ridges in his face, were sharp and inhuman. He stood, hunched against his staff, on the very edge of the platform. Watching.

As he watched, his weathered hand twisted tightly around his staff and he let out a low throaty growl. Concerned by what he was witnessing. Finally, after several moments of agitated thought, his grip slackened slightly and he let out a resigned sigh.

"Mr Popo!" His voice rang in the air. Stern and rough.

"Kami-Sama!" The dark figure named Popo exclaimed, surprised to see his aged master move from his preferred spot. Kami could go as long as decades without ever moving from his stoic watch, as still as the ancient structure he resided in.

"Something troubling appears to have come to our planet." Kami remarked gravely. "I fear we may be forced to intervene."

"Is it that serious?"

"Perhaps." Kami replied, seemingly unsure. "Our assistance may be unneeded, however I could not call myself the Guardian of Earth if I allowed some being from another world to rampage across the planet."

"Oh course Kami-Sama. I'll prepare the carpet right away."

–

"Hey you in the house. Get out here right now!"

Raditz had followed the Scouter's signal to a bizarre house in the southern hemisphere of the planet. The house itself was bright pink and had the words 'kame house' emblazoned across the front. Even stranger was the tiny island it was perched on, the lawn in front of the house was barely as big as the house itself and that was all there was of it. Raditz couldn't help but wonder what kind of creature would choose to live out here on a tiny island in the middle of nowhere.

As soon as he'd shouted Raditz had heard a loud crash from inside the house, followed by a quieter splash and then a soft groan. Just when Raditz thought whoever was inside was going to continue hiding the door swung open and a figure emerged from within. To Raditz' amazement it was what appeared to be a frail old man. He had worn lines on his face, a thick grey beard moustache combo and was completely bald. No matter how you examined him he looked like nothing more than a man long overdue for the grave.

"Young man I don't know how you got here but don't you know it's rude to show up on someone's island and make a rucus? You should apologise to all the nice young ladies who worked hard to make the magazine you just ruined." The old man babbled, clearly upset about something. A dejected frown on his face as he strode out into the midday sun.

"Ladies?" Raditz replied, checking his Scouter once again and reconfirming he and the old man were alone on the island. "What are you talking about? You're the only one on the island!" He tapped the side of the metal visor he was wearing and waited for a moment until it emitted a sharp chirp.

"What? YOU have a Power Level of 127?" He spat out, amazed.

"Well I don't know what a Power Level is, but despite how I look I am quite a skilled Martial Artist if that's what you mean." The old man replied looking bemused.

"Martial Artist?" Raditz demanded, even more confused by this strange old man. "What is a Martial Artist? Is it what this planet calls its Warriors?"

he old man's thick grey eyebrow cocked and his head tilted ever so slightly to the side, a quizzical look on his face. "You are a strange one aren't you young man? You come here talking about Power Levels and warriors and yet you don't even know what Martial Arts are? Just who are you?"

Raditz hesitated for a second. Unsure what to say. "Me? I'm A Saiyan warrior from the planet Vegeta! I've been sent to this planet to wipe out its inhabitants! I am..."

Raditz trailed off, distracted by the morose look the old man was directing at him. "How sad." He remarked, his wrinkled face furrowing into a deeply upset expression. "To think that I would hear a young child talk about taking so many lives with such ease."

"You!" Raditz snapped angrily. Bile welling up in his throat at the thought of being pitied by this ageing weakling. "Don't you pity me. I am a proud warrior of my home planet, first I'm going to kill you, then I'll kill everyone on this planet!"

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that young man." For the first time since Raditz had arrived, the old man ceased to look fragile. A sharp look formed on his wizened features and his body, which had seemed thin and brittle, became flushed with Ki and swelled with hidden power. A chill ran down Raditz's spine and he unconsciously recoiled a single step, before regaining control of himself and standing his ground.

"You don't have a chance against me! I'm a top class warrior!" Raditz barked, overcoming his momentary fear. With a snarl he braced his arms at his side and drew out his Ki. A shimmering Corona of energy burst forth from within him and lashed out at everything around him, buffeting against the old man's tense form. Raditz saw the old man's eyes widen in surprise as he brought out his full power and that only proved to redouble his confidence. _'I_ _ **AM**_ _a top class warrior!'_ Raditz insisted inwardly.

Raditz moved first. A cloud of dirt erupted behind him and he closed the distance in the blink of an eye, his arm pulled back to its fullest. With an animalistic roar he swung his fist towards the old man with all the force he could muster. Seconds before impact the old man's hand slashed upwards and knocked the blow away, sending ripples of force crashing through the air behind him. Before Raditz could pull his fist back the old man's free hand sprung up from bellow and smashed into his chin, sending his head snapping backwards. Disorientated Raditz didn't see what hit him next, instead only feeling a solid force crashing into his exposed chest and send him careening across the island before crashing to a halt half buried in sand.

Raditz rose to his feet shakily, to the sight of the old man looking at him with remorse. He let out an ear splitting scream of rage, his aura blazing with new-found intensity at the indignity of being pitied once again by this inferior creature. His muscles pumped with power for a moment before he launched himself once more at the old man, moving even faster than before. Raditz ducked as the old man's left leg cut through the air towards his temple, slipping under the attack and lunging forwards with renewed vigour. Only to run face first into the old man's right heel. There was a sickening crack as Raditz' own momentum forced him violently into the blow, before his head snapped backwards once more and he stumbled several steps away from the old man. His head spinning and his vision hazy. Blood was splattered all over the torso of his armour, dripping like rain from his now broken nose.

With a light thud the old man landed once more on the ground. Raditz wasn't sure what he'd done, one second he'd been throwing a kick with one leg and yet the moment Raditz had dodged it he'd run straight into the other leg. Seemingly out of nowhere. Raditz' anger started to change into confusion and even a trace of fear. _'I_ _can't_ _lose here. I_ _'_ _m a top class warrior!'_

"It's not too late to stop this fight."

Raditz felt a smirk fight through the pain. "Getting scared old mnn?" He slurred slightly, more blood dribbling out of his nose. He scowled in irritation and snorted violently, spraying blood out his nose and onto the sand in front of him. His sinuses cleared he continued. "Finally realised my strength?"

The old man let out a dejected sigh. "You're strong boy. Certainly stronger than me. But you lack technique. As you are now you have no chance of beating me."

Raditz' eyes widened. "Wha-What?!" He stammered. "Are you insane old man!?" He demanded enraged.

"Insane? Nope, maybe a little senile these days though. Getting old does that to ya."

"SHUT UP! You think you can beat me!? I am a top class warrior!"

Once again that disgusting look of pity appeared on the old man's face. "No. You're not."

Raditz' scream of rage ripped across the island, louder and more violent that ever, and he flung himself at the old man. The old man's eyes widened and his arms flashed up to parry Raditz' first swing, deflecting the intense force down into the earth. The old man went to counter, but was too slow, Raditz' swings came faster than ever as he wildly threw punch after punch at the source of his anger, the old man was quickly forced on the defensive as he tried to parry the numerous furious blows. Around them the sand was carved into an increasing number of jagged ridges as Raditz' attacks rained down upon the old man, sending waves of sand crashing in every direction.

"HOO-HA!" The old man bellowed. A shockwave of energy burst out from within him, his muscles burst with even more intense power and inflated to an even greater size. The wave of energy crashed into Raditz with enough force to pause his onslaught for a fraction of a second, long enough for the old man to whip his considerably larger right arm through the air and send it rocketing down into Raditz shoulder. His knees buckled under the impact and his body was hammered down towards the sand. His chest impacted with ground with incredible speed, driving the air from his lungs, and his vision went black.

–

Roshi was stood, rather uncomfortably, on a large platform floating in the sky. A platform that he was amazed to discover, hung above the top of Korin's Tower where he'd trained as a youth. He was facing a being who resembled the greatest evil Roshi had ever known and who insisted, quite convincingly, that he was not the evil Demon Lord Piccolo, but instead Lord Kami. A being that Roshi had believed in only in the same way an office worker believes in a CEO. Knowing vaguely of their existence, somewhere up there, but with no desire to ever find himself actually face to face with them.

Needless to say it was a lot for the old man to take in.

"The child is far too dangerous to remain on Earth."

"Remain on Earth?" Roshi let out a bemused sigh, he'd hoped the boy was just making up stories. "So the boy is really an alien?"

"Indeed." Remarked Kami gravely. "A dangerous one at that."

"He's just a child."

"For now." Kami snapped in response. "But in 5 or 10 years he'll no longer be a child and neither you nor I will be strong enough to stop him when he decides to destroy the planet!"

"And what if he doesn't decide to destroy the planet?"

Kami's expression darkened and he turned his gaze fully on Roshi, who's face seemed a lot calmer then his own. "Do not be foolish. He's dangerous, someday he could grow to be a greater threat than even the Demon Lord Piccolo."

"He's not evil Lord Kami."

"Then what is he?"

"I am an old man, Lord Kami." Roshi remarked. Suddenly changing the tone of the discussion. "Granted I'll bet not even half as old as you, but I'll wager I've spent a lot longer around children than you have."

"He's not an ordinary child."

"Actually I think he is." Roshi replied. "More so than you realise."

"An ordinary child would not have as much blood on his hands."

For a moment Roshi seemed distracted. "Indeed." He replied, a far away look in his eyes. "But those with blood on their hands have two paths in life, redemption or punishment. I would rather not see such a young child suffer the later."

There was a stagnant pause between the two of them, the air heavy with indecision as Kami mulled over Roshi's words. Roshi himself was sweating nervously, he was playing a very dangerous game here. Arguing with a god. Lord only knew what Baba would say if she could see him now… probably something mean.

"One Year." Kami declared with certainty. "I will give you one year before I come to judge him."

–

Age 739

Raditz sprung awake violently, his torso shooting bolt upright as he hazily tried to figure out where he was. His vision slowly cleared and he realised he was in a very unfamiliar setting. He'd been tucked into a bed, of all things. After a few seconds he remembered.

 _'I-i lost'_ he realised, dejected. _'That… old man he… put me here?'_

Raditz wasn't sure what to think, a sudden shot of pain brought his hand up to his broken nose and he felt plastic. _'He set my broken nose?'_ Even more confused Raditz checked himself, his injuries had been treated, including several minor ones that had yet to heal from previous… 'fights'.

This kind of treatment was inexplicable to Raditz, a Saiyan defeated on a foreign planet had no right waking up again. He should be dead. Yet for some reason the old man had decided to take his wounded form in and even bandage him up. A smirk of triumph appeared on his face, he could already feel his strength returning, all he needed to do was sneak up on the old man when he wasn't ready and kill him. Once he'd done that he'd be able to complete his mission with ease and no one would ever have to know about his-Raditz caught sight of a steaming mug on the table next to him.

Touched a hand to it experimentally, it was warm. He sniffed it, curious, the smell was unlike anything he'd ever had on Vegeta. Sweet. Finally deciding it was safe to drink he took a long gulp, it burnt his tongue slightly, but he didn't care. The drink was delicious and he smiled happily to himself as he finished it. What had he been thinking about? He wondered to himself. Ah, right. Completing his mission.

 _'Killing the old man can wait until tomorrow.'_

–

"Come on old man! I thought you said we were sparring. Not playing pattycake!"

"Enough of your back chat Raditz. I may not be as spry as I used to be but I'm still good enough to give you a good thrashing!"

"HA! Isn't it about time you admitted that I've surpassed you?!"

"If you think you've learnt all I have to teach you in a measly year then you've got rocks where your brains should be!"

The duo skipped across the island at high speed, both flickering back and forth between being planted on the ground and skimming the ground. Suspended by their Ki. As the two of them criss crossed across the tiny island they remained engaged in a lightning fast exchange of attacks. Raditz had a clear advantage in speed and power, his many blows crashing through the air like lightning bolts, but Roshi was clearly holding his own. The impressive fluidity of his movements and precision of his attacks diminishing the effects of Radtiz' superior raw strength. Raditz himself however was completely different to how he'd been a year prior, whilst before he'd fought like a wild animal he was now finally starting to look like a Martial Artist. Although an inexperienced one to be sure.

"Am I interrupting?"

Roshi recognised the voice in an instant and immediately froze, prompting Raditz to do the same. Just in time to halt the punch he'd been throwing mere millimetres from Roshi's exposed face. The two of them turned towards the ocean, above which hovered a rug several feet across. Standing on the rug were two beings, the wizened earthy green figure of Kami and the smaller more jolly form of Mr Popo.

"Yeah you are!" Barked Radtiz irritably. "What's the big ide-"

There was a loud crack as Roshi smacked Raditz across the back of his head. "Don't be such a brat and show some respect to Lord Kami." He told the boy sternly.

"So today is the day?" Roshi asked, knowing full well the answer.

"A year has passed."

Raditz looked confused. "A year has passed sinc-"

Another loud crack. "What did I say about showing respect to Lord Kami?" Roshi snapped again.

"All right, all right, geez. Oww." Raditz groaned, rubbing the back of his head. "So. **LORD** Kami. What have you come here for?"

"I'm just here to ask a few questions." Kami replied calmly as the rug landed softly on the sand and he stepped off it onto the beach.

"That's all?" Raditz asked, confused.

"Indeed." Kami replied.

 _'But…'_ Roshi winced in surprise when he heard a voice not his own echo in his head. _'You and I will hear then answers given not by his mouth, but by his heart. Tell me Roshi, are you ready to hear the boys true feelings?'_

"I am." Roshi replied. Raditz opened his mouth to speak again, but then wisely chose to remain quiet.

Kami turned his attention to Raditz and for a moment there was a stagnant pause. The wind drifted lazily through the scene and nothing moved, not Raditz, not Roshi, nor Kami or Popo. Raditz was beginning to sweat, sensing the seriousness of the situation from the dark expression those gathered around him bore. His tension rose and he almost jumped when Kami spoke.

"Tell me boy. Why have you remained on this planet?"

Raditz stammered. Half nervous, half embarrassed. "B-because I want to get stronger!"

 _'I don't want to give up Master Roshi's kindness.'_

Kami's eye crooked in surprise and beside Raditz Roshi allowed himself a small smile. "Do you still intend to destroy this planet?"

Raditz refused to meet Kami's eye as he spoke. "O-of course! That is my duty as a Saiyan Warrior!"

 _'No. I want to protect this planet."_

"Why?"

Raditz' voice caught in his throat. "…"

 _'Because here I have someone who would care if I disappeared.'_

Kami broke off the psychic link and recoiled ever so slightly from the young boy in front of him, his brow creasing. Just out of Raditz' sight Roshi's eyes had moistened ever so slightly and he took a moment to wipe them dry before Raditz noticed. Raditz himself seemed confused by Kami's reaction, unaware of what the two of them had heard.

"So is that it?"

"Yes." Kami replied, regaining his composure. "It would seem Roshi was correct."

Raditz looked at Kami blankly. "About what?"

A third crack rang out. "Respect!" Roshi snapped again. "Just for that, five laps to the mainland and back!"

"What? Are you senile old man?"

Roshi fixed Raditz with a malicious smirk. "Senile? Me? Not at all. Now remind me again, did I say five laps? Or ten? It seems to have slipped my mind."

A look of horror washed over Raditz' face. "Five!" He yelped, kicking off the ground and shooting off into the horizon in a cloud of dust. The three remaining on the island watched him streak off into the distance, before lapsing into silence for a few moments.

"It seems I've been getting old." Kami remarked solemnly. "I have spent far too long living in isolation, it has clouded my judgement… perhaps it is time for another to take up the mantle of Guardian."

"Lord Kami!" Popo exclaimed incredulously.

"You mean to make him your successor?" Roshi asked.

"Perhaps." Kami remarked distantly. "Then again, perhaps the role of Guardian wouldn't suit him. Only time will tell."

–

 **Whew. This chapter was trickier than I expected. Lots of high speed character development, but at least I got to slip a fight scene in there. Hopefully the next chapter will have a bit more action and I can slow the pacing down a tad.**

 **If you liked it then a review is always fun to read, and if you have any questions about the fic drop them my way and I'll be sure to answer next chapter. Although I like to think I'm managing to keep everything relatively straightforward at the moment.**


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